Blend: 70% Sangiovese, 30% Cabernet Franc
From: Umbria, Italy
Taste: A fantastically cool-fruited coupling between Sangiovese and Cabernet Franc from Umbria. This wine “lets its hair down” pretty quickly after opening, with notes of juicy red fruits like raspberry and strawberry in the forefront, buttressed by a subtle medley of non-fruit aromas: dried flower, herb, baking spice, and leather. A slaty, mineral, dark-fruited undercurrent surrounds these supple red fruit + spice notes; it’s alluring, dark and mysterious, and gives off an air of gothic elegance that’s just as comfortable served next to weeknight dinners.
Pairing: This charming Umbrian red is extremely versatile, as noted above, and is at home alongside dishes like lasagna, slow-roasted pork, burgers, green chili vegan mac and cheese, pasta with tomato sauce, lentils with butternut squash, and gnocchi with sage and butter sauce. It also pairs well with many a weeknight takeout: tacos, gyros, pizza/pasta to name a few. We’re sharing a lentil recipe that’s a riff off of traditional Umbrian cuisine for our pairing suggestion today. The recipe can also easily transition into a vegetarian-friendly option, just substitute the sausage in the recipe with your favorite vegetarian sausage, tempeh or seitan.
Pressure Cooker Lentil Soup With Sausage
By Sarah DiGregorio
The area. Umbria IGT is the region-wide Indicazione Geografica Tipica (IGT) title for Umbria, central Italy. It covers every part of the region, from the tiny village of San Giustino in the north to Santa Maria delle Neve in the south.
Umbria is situated right in the middle of Italy (if this boot-shaped peninsula can be said to have a 'middle') and is the only Italian region with neither a coastline nor an international border. Its neighbors on the Tyrrhenian coast are Tuscany and Lazio, and it is separated from the Adriatic coast only by the Marche region. Two valleys cross Umbria, the Umbrian Valley and the Tiber Valley both of which creates ideal topography for viticulture.
Being such a large region, Umbria has multiple climate zones from Mediterranean and Continental types. Summers are generally dry and warm and winters mildly cold. Precipitation is low throughout creating low humidity levels with most rainfall concentrated on the eastern side of the region.
